1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of computer graphics and, more particularly, to a high performance graphics system.
2. Description of the Related Art
High performance graphics systems may include a floating-point processor (geometry chip) that performs operations such as transformation and lighting, and a rasterization chip that performs operations such as primitive assembly, clipping, and rasterization of primitives.
Graphics APIs support the use of a number of primitives that are composed of vertices such as triangles, quadrangles, and polygons, and sets of primitives such as triangle strips and triangle fans. Most graphics accelerators sub-divide the higher order primitives (strips, fans, quadrangles, and polygons) into triangles and then rasterize the triangles. Graphics systems are now measured by their ability to process an exponentially increasing number of triangles per second. This trend has increased the need for more efficient systems with increased triangle throughput.